Tragic event shapes Mitchell's solid season

Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2008

There are perks for Georgia junior golfer Adam Mitchell that come with playing the NCAA East regional in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tenn.

Getting to sleep in his own bed Monday night before his teammates arrived in town. Knowing plenty about Council Fire Golf Club after playing the course up to 50 times. Having family and friends get a chance to see him play in the 27-team event that runs today through Saturday.

Mitchell arrives at the tee 10th in the Golfweek/Sagarin college rankings with the lowest stroke average (72.09) for the top-seeded Bulldogs.

His best season at Georgia has come with an unexpected new sense of perspective on how golf fits into his life.

Days before Thanksgiving, before Mitchell was to begin a practice round at the College All-America Classic in El Paso, Texas, came the stunning news that his first cousin, Azam Pasha, was killed in a car accident in Johns Creek near Atlanta.

Mitchell quickly withdrew from the event and flew home to be with family.

"It's helped me realize, it's just golf," Mitchell said. "You've just got to go out there and play golf and have a great time doing it."

Mitchell has worn his cousin's initials on his Georgia cap and put them on his golf balls for every round he's played this spring.

"I think it keeps him well grounded," Georgia coach Chris Haack said.

Azam Pasha, four years older than Mitchell, was a student at Georgia State. Azam's mother is the sister of Adam's mother, Farzana.

"I kind of looked up to him," Mitchell said. "By the time he passed away, we were almost the same age or felt the same age, really. I followed him around. We did everything. Played sports. Hung out. Played video games. Everything."

The cousins saw each other growing up at family gatherings on holidays, but also got together about once a week when Mitchell lived in Atlanta until he was 14. Even when Mitchell was at Georgia, he saw Pasha at least once every couple of weeks.

Mitchell says he brings a different mindset when he's on the golf course now.

Haack, along with assistant Jason Payne, already preaches to the team not to live and die with every shot.

Haack remembers making the entire Georgia team run as punishment for Mitchell tossing a club in disgust 50 yards down a fairway in a tournament last fall.

Contrast that to this past Monday. Mitchell failed to make it through local U.S. Open qualifying in Kennesaw, but says "that's no big deal."

"Even though you're competitive and you do what you need to do to stay competitive and constantly work to achieve a higher level, you still have to realize it's still just sort of a sidelight to your life," said Jim Mitchell, Adam's father, and a pitcher at Georgia from 1973-75. "There are other things involved - spiritually and mentally and physically - you need to grow just as well as you do playing your sports. He's done that, so we're sort of proud of him for that."

Mitchell actually already showed pretty good balance on and off the links. The finance major made the Dean's List in the fall when he had a 3.57 GPA.

Haack believes Mitchell, who was in and out of the Georgia lineup his first two seasons, gets better the more success he has.

"For the most part, he's a hard worker and turned out to be a terrific player for us," Haack said.

The popular Mitchell, however, has a busy social schedule, which Haack says sometimes causes him to become a little lackadaisical when it comes to his golf game.

"He's got tons of friends," Haack said. "He's constantly going to a formal here or somebody's spring dance there. He's very much into everything that's going on at school. He loves football and basketball games. He's not just a golf nerd."

His cousins' initials are constant reminders that whether he finishes first or 30th this week, life goes on.

"You kind of realize I'm out here playing golf doing something I love at the University of Georgia, exactly where I wanted to play golf," Mitchell said. "You go through something like that, you realize that playing golf is just fun. There's greater things in life than that and nothing to get beat up about if you play bad."